Breeding
IMPORTANT! This information is no longer up to date, but is kept here as an archive for NIBers who may find it useful. Instead, please direct your questions to the NIB thread on Howrse, International server for more up to date answers. 'Is it really bad to start a NIB project with a 2nd or 3rd foundation?' : It's not bad per se, but obtaining a howrse that is not a foundation leaves too much room for the possibility of a "broken line". A broken line is when you lose the purity of your howrse's lineage because one of its ancestors is in-bred or worse, it has disappeared there by proof of lineage becomes impossible. So if you have 12 generations of howrses, from your 2nd generation starter, and suddenly the parents of that howrse are found to have disappeared because the player deleted their account, then your entire project has just been flushed down the drain. You have a broken line and will have to start over. 'Is cross-breeding allowed?' : Yes, as long as the lineage is pure (a howrse appears only once in the line) and there are no broken lines or disappeared howrses. 'Does NIB count siblings?' : No. It only counts horses you have bred together. That's why it's called "Non-In*breed*ing". : 'Can I participate in the NIB GP race with crossbred howrses?' : No. Crossbreeding is fine in a NIB personal project, but in order to participate in the official NIB GP listing, all howrses must be purebred. Reason being it is unfair to compare a crossbred with purebred horses. 'Is it ok to continue a howrse line from a failed foundation unicorn breeding?' : Yes. However, regardless as to whether or not its parents are unicowrns, you will not get a unicowrn if you breed with a no-horn. Though if you want to continue the line as howrses, or by mixing howrses and unicowns, then yes that's allowed as there is currently no rule against that. Also be sure that the unicowrn your howrse originated from is secure, that it is either yours or belongs to someone who will not delete their account etc. 'NIB howrses can not be inbred, so does that mean I can't breed two foundations together?' : Incorrect. You are allowed to breed two foundations together. The reason is that Ouranos and Gaia are considered to be gods (titans actually). So the rule doesn't apply there. Short answer, yes you can breed two foundation howrses together and, no they will not be considered inbred. 'Can NIB howrses have more than one foal? What about twins?' : Yes, as long as you don't use any related stock in the breeding. Twins are allowed, and instead of just selling 1, you can BLUP them both and keep the higher one. So it's not such a bad thing to have twins. Also, you can sell the rejected twin to a partner or another NIBer who trusts you to keep your account/howrses or just put it up for sale to the public. 'My howrse has finished breeding, but I don't have a Philosopher's Stone to immortalize it. I don't want it to age, lose its skills or turn it into a pass howrse. Is there a way I can preserve it?' : Yes. Do not take anymore actions with the howrse. This means no more lessons, breeding, feeding, etc. If you do not take actions with it, it will not age.